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ExploreWith the urban extension of Dourdan at the end of the 19th century, new houses were built outside the town’s ramparts. This kind of house targeted the new bourgeoisie that wanted to combine the sense of appearances and the taste of comfort.
From the Second Empire, the architecture’s magazines, the constructions’ treaties and the contractors’ magazines were importantly developed. Mass-produced materials were used to propose pillars, mouldings, ledges, finials and rinceaux. The combination of rolled iron, cast iron, bricks, enamels, terra cotta, ceramics, and sandstone with stones allowed an architectural renewal. Specialized publishers, present in Dourdan for more than a century, published architecture’s magazines, gravure’s collection and technical books which allowed to build mansions all over France.